Dick - Can you help with this? Fish box drains

[Genelie]

You know One day I will install the brass ones, I just have a great fear of drilling holes in a perfectly sound boat. But untill I get the nerve, I always flush out my bilge during my cleaning..takes all of about another 15 minutes...but it is always clean.

[Codfish]

To all you who have the fish box drains.

My question is - Have you left the drains open for a trip, let the boxes fill to the water line when you are drifting and then checked to see if they will self bail while you are moving forward? Seems that would provide some cooling and cleaning of the fish in the box up until the time you head in. Then the blood and other slime washes out when they self drain. I am not talking about the rear boxes, only the front ones. Let me know what you all think.

codfish

[k9reno]

I did by accident and they did not self bail. I had hoped they would. Maybe if you cover the opening with a large stainless clamshell type cover they would be able too. I dont know

[Codfish]

Thanks for the reply Dick.

I'll bet you are correct on needing a clamshell cover to create the pressure differentiation so water could drain out while under way. I'll have to check trailer bunk placement to see if that would be feasable.

codfish

[Dick@merrittmarine]

The Day I have to defend myself is the day I sign off this site for good!!!
Dick

--WILL LET YOU KNOW WHAT THE FACTORY SAYS AND I'M SURE DICK WILL WANT TO DEFEND HIMSELF ONCE HE READS THIS
NUFF SAID!!!
GGC

[tarheelborn66]

I am wondering if this scenario would work.....

Do the factory fix with the front boxes draining into the rear boxes. Then make the drains in the rear boxes larger and lower to the bottom of the boxes. Then run a line from each rear box to a 3 way connector and from there to a macerator pump. Then from the Macerater pump to an exit right beside the bilge on the stern of the boat. Also, place a switch on the helm for the macerater pump.

Is this a possibility or would it not be cost effective?

I am just having a hard time dealing with drilling 4 holes through the hull of the boat. I am sure they are sealed correctly but if anything hit them or during the normal flex of the boat a seal came loose, then I feel it is a situation that could cause problems in the long run.

Also, I don't want you to go anywhere either, Dick. I appreciate your knowledge and your willingness to always answer a question or give a suggestion.

[ILLOGICAL GGC]

Hey Dick --old buddy,old pal -- take it easy there !!!
ok -- maybe wrong choice of wording but i thought i have heard it said around there that the area where the drains were installed was solid . i wont rule out an "oldtimers" moment on my part, but can you clarify exactly the make up of the bottom of the fish boxes i.e. 2 surfaces meeting there or a solid "kiss off"
i edited my post to avoid any further conflict--love you guys there --mean it
GGC

[suitekids]

I'm not too familiar with the outlay of the larger fish boxes,but I have the 170cc.The fish boxes in ours work flawlessly, factory brass thru hull drains with the brass fliptop stoppers. When we fish for spec/crappie we pull the plugs and they fill with the water and the fish stay alive the whole day by the rocking of the boat, it drains and fills constantly, it drains outside and not in the bilge, obviously, a much better concept IMHO, and no foul smell in the bilge either, Top water is expelled by an integral gutter/drain under the hatch and work well for dry storage as well (always dry) until the plugs are pulled,Maybe with Dick's influence it would be incorporated in the larger fleet since this seems to be a major pain in the butt for the bigger boats. Sometimes bigger is not always better!!!! just kiddin' guys........Dan

[Dick@merrittmarine]

We have tossed around the idea of using a Macerator pump to empty the fish boxes, however, in researching the pumps they all seem to have a 1 1/2" inlet and should be mounted at or as close to the holding tank as possible. With this in mind it seems that 2 pumps would be needed, I think that using one pump and a Y fitting, along with additional plumbing, could draw air from one side, unless it's mounted at the bottom of the bilge where the pump could corrode. Drilling a large hole in the side of the box [at least 1" off the bottom] and the price of the pump, has driven us away from trying it.

Dick

[Dick@merrittmarine]

GGC, I'm not a plastics engineer so I don't know if I can clarify exactly what your asking, however, what I know is that in the design of a hull, specific areas are to join when the mold is compressed. These areas are refurred to as Kiss Off point's. The engineers know that a certain percentage of these areas will not kiss off perfectly, this is programed into the design. So keeping that in mind, the flat areas of the fishboxes are a kiss off point, but they may not be 100% solid. We have installed thru hull drain's where we have had to weld an area that had foam showing. In any case we use a lot of rule, both to seal the drain plug base and to coat the hole.

Dick